Minister for Public Expenditure defends 'appropriate' salary of highest-paid civil servant

The Minister for Public Expenditure has defended the salary being paid to the secretary general at the Department of Health insisting it is 'appropriate' given the nature of the role.

Paschal Donohoe was responding to questions regarding reports, this week, that Robert Watt's salary is set to increase to around €326,000 during the lifetime of the recently-agreed Public Service Agreement 2024 to 2026.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast ahead of the Fine Ard Fheis, which takes place this weekend, Mr Donohoe said he believes the salary reflects the importance of the role.

"This is about the work that happens if you are a secretary general of the Department of Health, it's not about any individual and what we have now within our health system is we have a number of new posts that have been created that have higher salaries.

"We have new consultants, we have new management within the HSE and I think it is really important that if we have such an important post as the secretary general of the Department of Health is,  that we have the pay in place that allows us to have the right people in place to that work," he said.

When asked if he believes the salary being paid to Mr Watt is "worth it", the minister replied: "I know it's a lot of money, I fully accept that - it's more than, you know, a minister would earn or a Taoiseach would earn but the work is essential," he said

"I believe the salary that we have for the secretary general of the Department of Health is the appropriate salary for a post that is that important to our public services. We keep on making the point that we want the right people doing the right work within our public services and I believe we have to reflect that in a small number of posts including that role."